Jyotirmoy Dey

Job:

Medium:

Beats Covered:

Gender:

Local or Foreign:

Freelance:

Charge:

Length of Sentence:

Reported Health Problems:

Type of Death:

Suspected Source of Fire:

Impunity:

Taken Captive:

Tortured:

Threatened:

Multiple men on motorcycles fired several shots at Dey as he drove past them on his own motorcycle in Powai, a suburb of Mumbai. The journalist died at the scene from five bullet wounds to the head and chest, his colleagues at Midday told CPJ. Dey, special investigations editor for Midday, was known for his hard-hitting coverage of Mumbai's crime world.

Investigators believed reputed crime boss Chhota Rajan ordered the killing, police told reporters at a press conference. The motive for the killing was not immediately clear, police said, although colleagues told reporters they believed Dey had been targeted for his reporting.

In November 2011, a journalist named Jigna Vora was arrested in connection with the murder for allegedly playing a part in the conspiracy to kill Dey, according to reports. In June 2015, a special court of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act charged 10 suspects, including Vora and an alleged criminal known as Chhota Rajan or Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, according to reports. Rajan was deported from Bali to India in November 2015, reports said. In January 2016, officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned Rajan about the killing of Dey. Vora denied the allegation, according to reports. CPJ was unable to determine if Rajan and the other suspects also denied the charges.

Dey had covered crime in Mumbai for 22 years and had written two books, Zero Dial: The Dangerous World of Informers and Khallas.